


Noticed

by hdarchive



Series: What I Need [8]
Category: Glee
Genre: BadBoy!Blaine, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2015-12-17
Packaged: 2018-05-07 07:11:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5447759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hdarchive/pseuds/hdarchive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He cares too much. Kurt cares too little. Nobody else cares at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Noticed

Boyfriends?

No, they can’t be that.

Boyfriends hug and kiss and go on dates and -

Okay, so they do all of that.

But he doesn’t love Kurt, and he can’t see himself loving Kurt in the foreseeable future because love is like a tattoo, not _technically_ permanent but painful to get rid of. So when he can’t love Kurt anymore, getting over it and moving on will be a bitch.

Not boyfriends . . .

Even if he finds that with every second they spend together it takes less and less effort to _start_ caring. To _let_ himself care about things, about Kurt, without doubting himself. So who knows? He could just possibly let himself feel certain things without even noticing at this rate.

Rachel doesn’t even bat an eye at them when Blaine sits down at their table during lunch, stealing food off Kurt’s plate and adding his opinion to the conversation when it seems appropriate. It’s never actually appropriate, but at least he’s trying.

Nobody even notices really, when he starts to sit next to Kurt every day in glee. He just likes being near him, even when they don’t say anything to each other.

That’s another thing about Kurt. He just seems to get that words aren’t Blaine’s forte. Or more, saying the right words aren’t his forte, so he doesn’t push him to talk, or sing. Occasionally he gets him to dance, and Blaine only really does that because Kurt’s not that great either.

Kurt can talk though. Kurt can sing. Kurt’s the smartest most brilliant person to ever open his mouth and say something.

Kurt’s proof that trying can be worth it, because Blaine’s so glad he did.

They haven’t kissed all too much, not since their date. There aren’t very many opportunities to do it during school, even though all the other couples in glee club see nothing wrong with going to second base in the middle of the hallways.

It doesn’t really matter, because he’s got a good memory, and he can still feel it.

-

Kurt holds onto his hand before they leave for the day, squeezing it like he doesn’t want to let go, and Blaine pulls Kurt closer to him, teasing as he says, “Relax, I’ll be here tomorrow. Try not to lose sleep over me.”

If only he knew, back when he was failing every class at Dalton and struggling with his attendance, that all he needed to stay in school was a boy like Kurt. Why did the universe send him there when he could have just been here the whole time?”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Kurt says back, voice just as teasing, eyes narrowed but - sparkling. “Marie Claire says sleep deprivation causes wrinkles and enlarged pores, and I for one am not risking that.”

He can only laugh, because how else would he express this stupidly wonderful awful bright burning in this chest? Laugh, and then pull Kurt even closer to kiss him, of course.

“Then I hope you dream of me,” he says, and he feels embarrassed but he doesn’t let it erode his heart, because now his heart is made of concrete and steel, things that can’t break.

-

The one person who does notice something is his mom.

He doesn’t know how though, because he only ever sees her when she gets home from work, or before she’s off to the gym or a date, and even then she’s always too tired to hold conversation.

He runs into her in the morning for once, before school. Usually he stumbles into the kitchen, dragging his feet and making as much noise as possible, letting plates and cups clatter noisily, as if to make the rest of the world as miserable as he is. He hasn’t woken up like that in a while though, especially not today, because he told Kurt he’d bring him coffee before school so that means he doesn’t have to wait until lunch to see him.

“Well look at you, all sunshine and rainbows,” his mom sings, smiling widely at him as she pours herself a cup of coffee. “What’s got you so happy today?”

It’s like he has a switch, on and then off, and he’s not sure why it flicks off then, but he scowls and shrugs. “Nothing.”

But his mom doesn’t buy it, pouting at him as she whines, “Oh come on. Who else am I going to tell? Your secret’s safe with me.”

He stands there and groans as she runs a hand through his hair, messing up his curls even further, but he contemplates telling her, because keeping it inside might kill him. She never actually cares though, no matter how convincing she sounds. Just as bad as Santana maybe, always looking for new information to do absolutely nothing with.

So as much as he wants to shout to the world or to her, _holy shit you’re never going to believe how lucky I am_ , he won’t, because she’ll just smile and nod and not really care, or scold him and complain and say how much better he could be doing.

“I have to go to school. Have a good day at work,” he says, hastily, pulling away from her hands and grabbing his school bag off the kitchen table.

“Is it your glee club?” she asks, ignoring his goodbye, and he stops, freezes, not liking the tone of her voice because it’s too sweet and that’s never right. “Your dad told me to take you out of it, but the school says all your grades have gone up, and your attendance has never been better. So clearly something in that club is making you happy.”

“I -” And he loses all fight, because Kurt does. “Yeah, something like that.”

“Good,” she hums and nods, smiling at him again. “So the next time you see your dad, tell him I was right.”

-

His absence is noted immediately.

Not by anybody else in the club, but Blaine definitely notices it.

Kurt’s seat is empty, and it stays empty minutes after practice begins, and Blaine never really focuses but he especially can’t focus now because Kurt’s not here, and he keeps looking towards the doors to see if he’s coming in, but he isn’t.

Worry sets in, the worst kind of feeling he’s ever felt, because he only ever gets worried when he knows something is really, truly wrong. He just saw Kurt at lunch, it’s not like he disappeared, because he never misses glee club, and he wouldn’t dare try to skip it without telling Blaine first, would he?

“Where’s Kurt?” he suddenly asks, looking around the room, surprised that nobody else has even mentioned it yet.

Everyone looks around, shrugging as they say their own forms of ‘I don’t know’.

He turns and looks directly at Rachel, because in all honesty she knows Kurt more, but she looks back at him, helpless, and shrugs.

He’s quick to get up, muttering under his breath as he shakes his head. “Some team this is.”

“Blaine, where are you going?” Mr. Schue asks, looking up from his papers scattered across the top of the piano, as if he’s just now realizing that Blaine even exists.

“To go find Kurt,” he says, arms outstretched and pointing at the empty space where Kurt sits, eyebrows raised at Mr. Schue. “Who if you haven’t noticed, is missing.”

He leaves, walks fast but each footstep isn’t fast enough, and texts him _no way youre leaving me alone in that room. where are you?_

He doesn’t need a response though, because when he turns the hall to get to Kurt’s locker, Kurt is there.

Covered in red.

His heart stops, but the closer Blaine gets the more he sees that it’s just ice, red coloured ice, spread across Kurt’s shoulders and down his chest, chunks of it stuck in his hair.

“What - what happened to you?” he asks, mouth dry and throat not willing to cooperate with him. He presses closer to Kurt, wiping at Kurt’s shoulder to clear off some of the ice.

Kurt jerks back, only a little, but he looks completely calm when he meets Blaine’s eyes. “What does it look like?”

He knows he shouldn’t care so much about the distance between them, how Kurt’s holding his arm on the locker door defensively, as if to keep Blaine back.

He knows it shouldn’t hurt so much, but he knows it’s because of the worry.

“Like you really do need waterproof clothes,” he says, voice losing its edge, shoulders dropping as he exhales, a little sadly. “Come on, what happened?”

Then Kurt smiles, small and weak at the edges but still there.

“The usual,” Kurt sighs, and indicates to his face at the traces of slushie still stuck to his skin. “They were nice enough to wait until after school, since I told them I don’t have a spare change of clothes with me today.”

Blaine frowns, and raises both hands carefully, hesitantly, and when Kurt nods he holds the side of his face, smudging away the sticky residue with his thumbs. “Who’s they?”

Kurt laughs humorlessly, and shakes his head. “That’s confidential.”

“What, did they make you sign a contract right after they poured flavoured ice over your head?” Blaine scoffs, keeping Kurt’s head in place so he can’t look away. “You can trust me.”

“I can trust you with me, but I can’t trust you with them,” Kurt says defiantly, bringing his hand up to wrap around Blaine’s wrist, gently pulling his hand away. “I know you’d go and find them.”

“So what?” Anger and the infuriating sense of unfairness stir in his chest, blowing on the always-glowing embers that live in his heart, creating a fire. “Those assholes can’t get away with this.”

Kurt slams his locker shut, the noise like a gunshot in the empty hallway, and faces Blaine with a look so terrifying that Blaine has to step back a little.

“ _This_ is just what happens, Blaine,” Kurt shouts, and as strong as he sounds he still looks weak, defeated. “Hurting them is only going to hurt you. It won’t change anything.”

Blaine forces himself to laugh, expression baffled as he says, “Whoever said anything about hurting them? I’m always down for polite conversation.”

Kurt seems to melt at that, frigid-frozen features softening with his smile.

“Likely story,” Kurt says suspiciously, lips curved into a sharp smirk, but it quickly fades, and he gestures to his shirt and sighs. “The longer I leave this shirt on the harder it’ll be to get the stain out. I have to go home.”

Kurt shoulders his bag and starts to walk away from him, shoulders and spine now held straight and high, each step full of purpose, as if he isn’t covered in slushie from head to toe.

So Blaine’s a bit confused, anger and worry and hurt and something else all mixing together, creating a dangerous concoction, and he yells out after him, “So you’re really just gonna . . forget about all of this?”

Kurt stops dead in his tracks, and then turns around and looks at Blaine oddly.

“What else do I do?”

**Author's Note:**

> Writing on my birthday because that's what 20 year olds do for fun right?


End file.
